"cast your vision young hoodoo as far as you can see, determine
the challenges the tribe will face, prepare the tribal soul to meet
them " word by rickydoc

i am flowers of the delta clan flowers and the line of o killens
i am a babagriot of the hoodoo way, i am mganga maua

this is the text: an invocation to struggle -

you could not have told those of us who lived through the bright
heady days of the 60s that the promised land was not in sight. -
it was inconceivable then that we would ever again be a weak people

but here we are at the turn of the century and you feel sometimes
like it was never this bad.

it is only when you remind yourself of just how far we've come
that you regain perspective. weve climbed some difficult mountains,
you and I

premise: that the old paradigms of struggle, the old
definitions and strategies, have played themselves out.

premise: that we need new paradigms of struggle to meet the challenges
of the 21st century.

apparently there is no promised land, apparently there is only struggle.

we have come to understand as did the angolans when they won their
colonial war, a luta continua - the struggle continues

THE STRUGGLE, THE ALMIGHTY STRUGGLE

. the ongoing struggle for survival and empowerment that has been
waged by the black people of the americas and the world - it has
spanned continents, cultures and centuries,. it evolves according
to our concrete conditions and the successes and failures of preceding
phases.

it is the struggle that shapes us as a people, it is the struggle
we must shape

but the movement looking kinda shaky these days. - folk giving
up, going for self, you look at the condition of blackfolk today
and its hard not to despair

- aids, bush, gangsters, the black family stressed

a shift in focus from external to internal dynamics that has made
for infinitely more nuanced struggle -

not only are blackfolk drifting but black solidarity considered
quaint these days

o these are singularly hardtimes but we have known hardtimes before
-our problems have always been insurmountable - slavery. southern
peonage. urban sojourners. - our struggle has always been epic and
we have always overcome.

but first there must be vision

i ask what is the longgame, are we to determine our own destiny
or do we continue to let it be determined for us by people who despise
us -

do we have a plan. what exactly are we struggling for.

what does it mean to be african american in this incredibly shrinking
world. just what does it mean to be black. to be part of the global
black community.

what will it mean 100 years from now. a generation from now. 100
generations.

are we to remain the bottomfeeders of american society forever
- are we to be part of an increasingly homogenized america and world.

or are we to just disappear as a distinct people and culture.

personally i do not want african american blackfolk to disappear
as a distinct culture and peoples. for all the problems that come
with it, i like being black.

optimally i see a strong and beautiful people, a respected member
of the world (cosmic) mosaic.

optimally i see black communities and black culture as strong,
healthy, wealthy and wise.

and i see struggle - i looking generations down the line and i
see plenty struggle

question: just what constitutes effective struggle in the 21st
century

ON THE NATURE OF THE LONGGAME

longgame strategies must be designed to train us into the kind
of people we want most to be it is the essence of conjuration -
conduct yourself as you aspire to be and you shall.

to forge a people capable of systematically responding to changes
in their political environment in both a timely and effective manner

once it was realized that aids had a special affinity
for the souls of blackfolk, there should have been a way to communicate
that to our people with the kind of cultural authority that would
enable timely adaptation to a cultural emergency

shortgame: identify causes and change community behavior accordingly
longgame: use hammer to make health care and the vital lifestyle
a cultural trait

then we will have worked the counterspell, finessed the hammer,
otherwise its just a tragedy samesame election 2008: shortgame:
win elections
longgame; shape sensibility of electorate

winners in ideological contention are not the strongest and the
most powerful
but the most innovative,the longest and most comprehensive

, the ones fighting todays wars with tomorrows strategies

the most effective mobilizationof recenttimes has been that of
the rightwing ascendancy. which learned new infobased techniques
of manipulating public opinion and mobilizing their forces.

it is already oldthought. our advocacy organizations havent even
mastered that model much less created any effectively innovative
mobilization techniques

what do i get instead. - -reparations - begging by any other name
is still begging
. is this the best post-most favorite minority strategy we can come
up with.

is this the best strategy we got for the 21st century -

all reparations teach us to be is better beggars give me a break
blackpeople, work with me

so what are the social, political, economic and ideological factors
shaping an effective 21st century strategy - what factors will shape
our strategic posture in the 21st century

some obvious ones
- evolving multicultural america and the world
- the rightwing ascendancy
- the growing conservatism in african american society
- the managerial mode of struggle as the premier model of struggle,
pros and cons
- crafting globalized responses to globalized challenges
- a sense of responsibility beyond tribe, the highroad
- media and information technology sophistication

current empowerment strategies have been various racial
uplift strategies, the reparations movement, the covenant and a million
black marches. Old verities like community empowerment, black capitalism
and nationalism. activists both radical and reformist. Cultural nationalist.
the array of political strategies is impressive as befitting a nation
of activists.

my premise is that in conflicts of this sort, its the side that
comes up w/brand new strategies that prevails, fighting tomorrows
game while your competitors still stuck strategically speaking in
yesteryear - you got to get on the cutting edge

my premise is that the only way we will ever get out of this historical
trickbag we have found ourselves in is by cutting the trickster
loose - playing the 21st century like champions, new game aint been
seen

what lessons and legacies can be drawn
from previous periods of struggle, from the abolition movement, reconstruction,
the new negro, the civilrights movement, black power and the postblack
movements

which strategies have been consistent through all phases. the
various empowerments, political, social, economic, cultural and
community. reformist advocates and radical activists. racial uplifht
strategies. humanism. nationalism. pan africanism.

a bilwildering array of strategies waged by different sectors
of african american societies - advocates, various activists, academics
and intellectuals, celebrities and bougie elites, gangsters and
students, professionals and workingfolk, you got politicians and
the poor and the marginal, the african trad religion practitioner
contesting spiritual ground - all these components of african american
society, all playing different roles on the board of destiny, all
part of the whole composing the people

then you got the counterstrategies: the black right: the ward
connerlys and the judge thomases who actively work against black
interests, you got the gangsters glorifying thug life, and mercenaries
of all stripes: ray nagin and clarence thomas and opportunists of
every sort One thing has been consistent through all the phases
of struggle are the various empowerments. political, community,
economic, cultural and social.

i have tried to come up with a word to define our age as the new negro,
civilrights and black power defined earlier phases of struggle, to
define it and boil it down to an impressionable phrase.

empowerment is what ive come up with empowerment is flexible enough
to cover a wide range of strategies -an overstrategy that would
allow us to coordinate sincere individual strategies instead of
expending our energies in turf battles thereare many roads to Timbuktu

whatever our new strategy is it must be some complex aspiration
to empowerment - cultural empowerment, economic empowerment, social
empowerment, political empowerment, personal empowerment, family
empowerment, community empowerment - the proper use of political,
economic and social resources - you name it, empowerment will cover
it.

shortgame: empowerment of the black community longgame: the survival
and prosperity, the illumination of the black generations

what strategic demands will a 21st century strategy
of empowerment have to address

racial identity in the multicultural future
post most favored minority strategies
domestic and foreign policy influence
global black identity and empowerment
economic security for all sectors of african american society
issues of class and african american solidarity
african american identity and solidarity
the growing conservatism of african american society
the managerial mode of struggle

the question of racial identity in a multicultural reality is
consistent across the board

babagriot david walkers words as good today as when he said them
during thegreat gitting up morning, "our greatest happiness shall
consist of working for the salvation of our whole body. when this
is accomplished a burst of glory will shine upon you which will
indeed astonish you and the world."

how do we maintain commitment to struggle now that its
no longer imperative. when I was growing up blackfolk had to stick
together., racism was overt and oppressive.

tell folks about the pre60s south - about having to ride in the
back of the bus, drink at the colored water fountain, yessir and
nosir whitefolk - and they cant conceive it

in my day blackfolk were forced to be black. nowdays blackfolk
choose to be black. there are those who would consider this a good
thing, a normalization

. most folk just want to be left alone to make a living and raise
a family the great majority of the race will never be actively involved
in the struggle.

but if those are lives of personal dignity and achievement that
is the essence of struggle. It is all I ask

the problem is that a great many blackfolk still suffering.
often for no other reason than they are black

wherever in the world you got blackfolk they are the bottom of
their respective society afrcia, america, asia, everywhere,cant
blame everywhere on anybody but ourselves

folk dont want to live around us, work with us, play with us,
be us we are the despised of the earth

somehow someway must must finesse the weaknesses that have crippled
us in global competition

solidarity has gotten us this far,it has been our wall our strength
wed be fools to give it up

voluntary organization is the single most effective instrument
of empowerment in a democratic society.

community empowerment and mobilization, social capital
ignore those who would have you feel guilty for racial mobilization

EMPOWERMENT AND 21ST CENTURY PARADIGMS

folk still think of mobilization as 60s style - antiwar
marches, online petitions, letters to the editor, etc the makedo strategies
of the weak and powerless - but more info based approaches possibly
more appropriate to the historical moment

the current phase of struggle seems to be managerially based.
as befitting struggle in a infobased post industrial society. the
problem with the managerial mode of struggle is exemplified in the
troubled mayoralty of ray nagin in new Orleans, he fronts as representing
black interest but he serves the new Orleans fat cats

The active strategy that seems to excite the activist wings the
most at this point and time is Reparations. as a longgame reparations
trains us only to be better beggars

true, we must remain forever vigilant against those who despise
us and consider our weakness their strength. but thats no longer
the primary struggle. for us to keep crying about racism is like
a sailor cursing the sea because its wet. surely by now we have
factored racism into our strategic posture. i say we consider the
security and prosperity of our generations the prime directive.
i say we calm, cool and collected. forever vigilant, maintaining
an ever evolving, multifaceted strategic posture - some moves bold
and strong, some hidden in shadows, some waiting silently in the
wings. masters of the longgame

in the evolving global culture, the question is which national
cultures will survive and be definitive and which will wither away
and disappear.

all cultures are simultaneously dynamic and entropic, a constantly
fluctuating blend of strengths and weaknesses. - african american
culture at its best is one of the strongest on the planet, witness
the global influence of the movement as a model for other struggles.
witness the hip hop nation - at its worst its so weak you wonder
how we will ever survive so which shall it be. shall we survive
and prosper as a people and culture or shall we decline and wither.

the hoodoo premise is that the health of the tribalsoul
is the root of all blessings. if the cultural soul is healthy, our
strategies are healthy, our lifestyles are healthy, our communities
are healthy. - if the soul is sick everything else is dysfunctional
- our lifestyles, our relationships, our communities, our vision.

one cares for the tribal soul by monitoring it through its cultural
products, contributing what it needs to balance out its weaknesses
and emphasize its strengths, minimizing the dysfunctional and emphasizing
the transformational. the battles over gangster rap and mercenary
literature are battles for the control of our cultural traits. of
our destiny. our fa.

it has become clear to me we must wage a sruggle as much spiritual
as it is political, and strive always to be greater than we are

this addresses the need to equate the black struggle with enhancement
of the human condition, in taking responsibility for humanities
evolution we contribute to the development of a culture the world
can embrace

we must all over the world manifest a vibrant black culture of
illumination and empowerment so appealing that black identity is
valued and folks are proud to consider themselves black.

as we grow in power & pride all the black peoples of the world
who are shamed to be black will come back home. (and so will everybody
else)

in the final analysis the battle will be one of grace which is
the better way

my ultimate goal is that blackfolk be so strong in
spirit, so powerful a people that no matter what governing system
we find ourselves part of - no matter where in the world/cosmos we
find ourselves in the foreseeable and unforeseeable future - that
blackfolk not only survive and prosper as a race and culture

but that they are illuminated and empowered, forces for righteousness

a better way

THIS IS MY VISION: THIS IS WHAT I SEE

i see blackfolk as a wise and wondrous people: humanities guide
and guardian.
I see a strong and beautiful people, a respected member of the world
(eventually cosmic) mosaic.

I see black communities and black culture as strong, healthy,
wealthy and wise.
guide and guardian of human destiny

i ask that you take responsibility not only for your own destiny
but for the destiny and wellbeing of all peoples and all creature
great and small.

i ask only that you be the great and glorious people you were
meant to be.
the illuminated children of the sun. humanitys living ancestors.
gods true chosen.

listen o ye firstborn to the geas of rickydoc
and I will give you a mission greater than your adversity